Chamber and committees

We anticipate that there will be £65 million to invest in this area in terms of that partnership with the private sector. Reflecting on those figures from the Scottish Futures Trust, private sector investment in this area has almost doubled from last year to this year. On what the trajectory will look like in terms of ramping up the numbers, it will be an acceleration. You can see that, and that is what we need to do. Having reflected on the discussion that I just had with Climate Change Committee members, I am as keen as they are to make sure that, geographically, Scotland’s needs are met through where the charging points are positioned; it is not just about volume.

On the technology changes that are happening, I was in Haddington just the other week, and BT has been working on the green furniture that it has, which was previously used for its transmission. The more that it is doing stuff in terms of the fibre-to-properties, the more the green boxes are becoming redundant in that respect. Haddington was the first place in the whole of the UK where BT piloted the use of that green box for power. Interestingly, it was on the edge of a council scheme with fields beside it, where people did not have their own driveway that they could charge their vehicle on. Obviously, we do not want people having to drive from the periphery of a town into the centre for charging if they do not have domestic charging.

Again, that is about innovation in technology. Also, BT chose Scotland because we are seen as good partners in that regard. If that approach can be expanded and rolled out elsewhere, that technological change will also provide more accessibility, because on-street charging can be a challenge in particular areas, so I thought that that was quite a good innovation.

You are right that the roll-out will be tough but the ramping up is happening and I know from looking at the plans from my local authority that it is keen to work with the private sector to roll out EV chargers so that the available choices for people can grow, as can their confidence in using the chargers.

I will need to be careful about what I say. Let us await the publication of the A96 review. However, on priorities within that, I think that any town that has a trunk road that is a major artery going through it has to be a priority. I will leave it as vague as that, but I absolutely agree that the Elgin bypass should be a priority. I will probably leave it at that, if that is okay.

I agree that the A83 is a key artery, particularly to Argyll and Bute, and it is important for the local community, businesses and tourism. You may be aware that there is an A83 Rest and Be Thankful task force, and I recently chaired its meeting in Arrochar on 22 May. I also visited the A83 and the old military road to see the progress of the different stages of the solution.

There is an informative communications vehicle—a website—from Transport Scotland, whose link we can forward to you. All the stakeholders, businesses and local councillors are involved in the task force. They are making sure that everybody is kept informed on progress. We have had very good presentations from the contractors that are going to be delivering the solutions.

There are short, medium and long-term solutions. The long-term preferred route option of the Glen Croe valley was announced in June last year. That is progressing well, and there have been exhibitions in local communities to show what will be involved in the proposed debris flow shelter.

At the same time, improvements are being made to the existing old military road. When diversions are required while the longer-term solution is being developed and built, that road will be in an improved state.

I was probably the only person who was wetter than the Prime Minister on 22 May, when I was looking at the developments and improvements, particularly on the south approach. There will also be a widening of that, which is required to help. It is also important to signal to broadcasters in particular that the A83 is not closed when the old military road is being used; it is a diversion using the old military road. That was a key message from the task force. It wanted to make sure that, when there has to be a diversion, people can still use the A83, but we are diverting them via the old military road for that difficult and problematic area, where we have had some pretty horrendous landslips and so on.

I will start by saying that ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper are among the top-performing train operators in the UK. They rank sixth and seventh, out of 23 operators, on public performance measures. However, as you rightly identified, ScotRail is not reaching our expected levels of performance. Although it is performing well, you are correct to identify that issues that people attribute to ScotRail because its trains have been cancelled or delayed can, in the vast majority of cases, be attributed to work that has been conducted by Network Rail.

The work that Network Rail does is important: we want to make sure that we have a safe railway. We also need to recognise that we have had 11 named storms since last autumn, which has had particular impacts on our railways. One of the major achievements that we have delivered over the past year is finalisation of the work on control period 7—on which a lot of people have done a lot of work, and which will include investment of £4.2 billion—and on the high-level output specification for Network Rail, which will include mitigation and adaptation for climate change. Obviously, sodden ground can have impacts, as we know.

You asked how we can drive up performance collectively. I will be meeting the new managing director of ScotRail and the chief executive of Network Rail. You will be aware that Alex Hynes has been seconded to the Department for Transport—ironically, to replicate what we have in Scotland, which is a far more integrated transport system of track and train together that has been established for some time. That means that we can try to plan works more collectively in order to minimise disruptions where we can.

As I said, performance is good. How do we specifically improve ScotRail performance? Replacement of the ageing fleet, for example, is a priority for us. We are looking at both the suburban and the intercity fleets in relation to procurement. Recruitment of engineers has really helped with improving some performance, particularly in areas that have seen challenges—for example, Fife.

Since ScotRail has moved into the public sector, we have added more than 200 additional services. Indeed, there are now 400 more people employed than there were prior to public sector ownership. The unions, in particular—I agree with them—are keen that we increase the number of apprentice engineers, which will help to improve the service. A more resilient fleet will also help.

There was quite a lot in there, but in respect of our oversight, when I have that meeting with ScotRail and Network Rail I will put pressure on them individually and collectively. The same level of performance is expected of both, so I expect them to continue to drive that forward in order improve.

Yes. What happens if you are—

I think that that would be a better way to pursue the matter.

I would like to be able to answer your question, but I think that it would be inappropriate for me to do so at this committee meeting.

Yes.

Colleagues might be able to update some of my figures, but 46.2 per cent of journeys under 2 miles were made by walking or cycling in 2022, and the figure for journeys under 5 miles was 2.1 per cent. However, statistically, those figures were not much different from the figures in 2019. I acknowledge that performance might not be as strong as we might expect or want, given the level of investment that we have made, but if we do not have investment to encourage people and make those options available, that is obviously an issue in itself.

I am sure that we will have the figures for 2023 at some point, but I do not know when that will be—perhaps one of my colleagues can tell me.

I do not know the details—I am sure that the committee’s researchers can look into this—but the hands-up survey is conducted annually in schools to get an understanding of who travels to school by walking or cycling. That information is available. I do not have it at my fingertips, but we can follow up with the committee if you are interested in that.

There are still challenges in how we get the best use of our walking and cycling infrastructure. However, the more people use public transport, the more they will walk. When I commute by rail, which I do frequently, I spend more of my journey time walking than I spend on the train, and I know that people who use buses will walk more in order to use them, so we need to look at these things in totality.

One of the big benefits of the Levenmouth rail link, which opened just last week, is the active travel part, which will help to connect communities across the Levenmouth area, not just from end to end.

Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to have been asked to continue as Cabinet Secretary for Transport by the First Minister. It is a privilege and an honour to be asked to serve in John Swinney’s Cabinet and to play a part in delivering on his Government’s core priorities.

As members all know, transport is vital to every aspect of our nation’s economic and social wellbeing. It plays a key role in all our lives. It helps to build and maintain relationships with people who are important to us; it helps businesses to get the goods and services that they need to thrive; and it helps communities to become and stay connected, which enables everyone who lives there to get around.

This weekend, I was delighted to join the celebrations with local communities at the reopening of the railway to Levenmouth. The railway forms part of a multimodal investment that will open up more access to leisure, economic, employment and educational opportunities, alongside improving the connectivity to and from the area for residents, visitors and businesses.

We have recently extended our ScotRail peak fares removal pilot until 27 September. The removal of that cost is helping many individuals and families to cope with the on-going cost of living crisis, and it is a financial benefit that really matters to people. However, I am also keen for cheaper fares to be available at all times of the day, and I am keen for such a move to encourage more people to use the train. We have listened to the many positive benefits that the removal of peak fares has had so far, and to continue with that, we need more people to choose to travel by train, not least to help cut transport emissions.

In the past few days, enforcement of the low-emission zones has commenced in Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Although air quality in our cities has improved over recent years, there is no safe level of air pollution, and those zones will help to save lives. Recent research highlights that improving air quality and measures such as LEZs remain essential to keeping children safe and protecting public health.

We are making good progress on the A9 dualling programme. We are on track to award the Tomatin to Moy contract in early summer, and we launched the procurement for the Tay crossing to Ballinluig dualling project as planned.

We have also published the recommendations of our fair fares review to help us to move further forward towards an available, affordable and accessible public transport system, and we have published our islands connectivity plan.

I am proud of the Government’s track record on transport, not least because of our investment in vital infrastructure such as road improvements, the new Queensferry crossing, new railway stations, low-carbon buses and new ferries. There is more to do, but our ambition is hampered by the cuts to the Scottish capital budget that have been made by the United Kingdom Government. In addition, the 2025-26 budget settlement is one of the toughest that we have faced in recent years. I hope that members will at least acknowledge that, and I would welcome the committee’s support in pressing the case for more capital funding from the incoming UK Government for transport and wider Scottish needs.

I am focused on maintaining the assets that we already have, to keep our essential transport network operating for Scotland. Rail investment priorities will focus on fleet decisions, while work will continue on expanding the electric vehicle public charging network and supporting the procurement of zero-emission and ultra-low-emission vehicles and buses.

I am committed to the reform of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service contract, and good progress is being made on the construction of major ferries for the Little Minch. I will continue with bus sector reform, while maintaining Scotland-wide concessionary bus travel schemes, which help people who are in the greatest need.

As everyone is aware, we are in a pre-election period. In that context, issues of some sensitivity may be under discussion today, but I will attempt to answer the committee’s questions as transparently as possible. I look forward to continuing to work with committee members and to hearing your questions this morning.